My 40 Acres In Beautiful South Florida

My 40 Acres In Beautiful South Florida

Having 40 acres in beautiful South Florida is a dream come true, but it is no simple task to maintain. Being from Pittsburgh, and growing up in a small rural area outside the city has definitely prepared me for this journey.

I grew up being outside, running around the woods, and I really never needed much to live, so having 40 acres in South Florida, living a minimalistic lifestyle, was going to be an amazing adventure.

With a large 12 acre lake, a massive palmetto field, and a forest thick with some of the most beautiful oaks, it can be daunting to manage alone.

The good news is, I absolutely love the property I get to live on, and I enjoy the challenges it presents me.

I thought that it would be a cool idea to share with everyone my journey from PA to FL, and the everyday activities I experience on the land as I establish myself on 40 acres.

The Property

The Lake

My 12 acre lake is a diamond in the rough, and if you knew exactly where I lived, you would know why.

The surrounding properties are old southern Florida farms covered in citrus and cows, and virtually no water, other than the rivers that run through the state of Florida.

What I have compared to my neighbors is truly something else, mostly because of the water. We house some of the coolest wildlife, including alligators, big bass, and some of the most beautiful birds you have ever seen.

I recently hired a company to come to the property to electrofish in order to figure out what kinds of fish are living beneath. I’ve done little fishing, mostly because nothing bites.

A friend and I bought a small bass boat, and cast netted just to see what we were dealing with. The only fish that came up in the boat were golden shiners, and blue gill. This was great news considering we want this to be a world class bass fishing lake, and the food for the bass is already there.

The bad news….the bass won’t bite a line when there are thousands of bait fish already swimming around them, hence the electrofishing, which will be a whole new article and video on it’s own, so stay tuned!

Other than the fish, the peninsula in the middle of the lake, which unfortunately isn’t accessible unless you want to put waiters on, and trudge through alligator infested waters (no thank you), is a safe zone for some beautiful birds. These birds can include Anhingas, Herons, Mallards and Cranes, which produce some crazy noises that I hear at dusk.

The Palmetto Field

This part of the property is one of my favorites, and very separate from the other parts of my eclectic piece of property.

These palmettos are fruit bearing and can be quite pricey if harvested and sold to local markets. I missed the harvest this year only because I just recently got myself set up on this land.

Other than the palmettos, this massive field is a great place to watch deer, birds, and other small creatures wonder through. Just the other day, as I was walking through the field I saw a few snakes (mostly Black Racers) that love the cover of the palmetto bushes.

With hunting season upon us, this field will be a great place to set feeders, and a stand to wait for deer.

The Oak Orchard

I can confidently say that this part of the property is my favorite, and the most beautiful. The large white oaks that provide natural shade, and the coolest hanging moss you’ve ever seen are something out of a movie, as if you are walking through Mirkwood Forest from Lord Of The Rings.

The thing that really upsets me most is that feral hogs love to root up the ground around the roots of these majestic trees.

In my video you can see the damage that they can do. I try not to let it bother me too much because I have a plan to remove these land destroying animals from my property in the near future.

The oak orchard is another piece of my property where many animals dwell, especially deer, hogs and owls. With cameras setup all over the property, this is where the deer like to hangout the most, and with good reason. It’s beautiful, covered with shade, and very secluded from any roads or houses.

The Field

This part of the property gets very little attention from me at the moment. The field is very large, probably the size of 2 football fields, it boarders the road, and my neighbors.

I can’t say that I dislike the field, I just don’t spend much time out there. It gets pretty hot in Florida, and can be unpleasant hanging out in the middle of a field in the summer. The cows don’t seem to mind, and they have all the grass they need.

The one nice thing that the field will provide is a great garden. It will be close to the lake for watering purposes, and catch plenty of sunlight during the day.

Even though I spend little time in the field now, I know in the future i’ll be giving it more attention once I get my garden going. Videos to come!

Homestead

Currently I have been living in a 30 ft travel trailer, next to a two thousand square foot poll barn. Even though I don’t yet live in a tiny house, my life has definitely been minimalistic.

Becoming more minimalistic has helped me so much to keep things more organized, and made the move across the country easier.

Eventually, my plan is to build a tiny house on this beautiful piece of property, and convert the poll barn into a functional garage. This will allow me a bit more space than the camper I’m currently living in.

The poll barn was a gift from the previous owner of the property, as it has massive floor area, and the frame already there for the garage.

The roof of the poll barn needs replaced, and the floor is all sand. This makes it difficult to walk under, and messy when it rains, but nothing that can’t be fixed!

The Cows

I recently acquired 11 cows from a new friend that was in need of a place for them to roam. In exchange, he would help around the land, and gave me the opportunity to deem my land agricultural for tax purposes. I suppose we both won.

I’ve grown a soft spot for the large roaming animals, and I think they have gotten used to me. Since I don’t yet have a dog, the cows have given me some company while I settle in to my new home.

Conclusion

As you can see, I have an awesome piece of property with so much potential. The journey from PA to FL has been nothing shy of amazing, and I am very excited to see where my life, and this property goes next.

I hope you enjoyed the short video tour of my property, and I hope you return to check out more articles and videos about my life on 40 acres in south Florida! Thanks for reading!

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I recently made the move from Pennsylvania to acquire 40 acres of land in Central Florida. Living as a minimalist, passionate about wildlife, and the outdoors. Starting a journey to tiny house living, and sharing the experiences along the way.
Studied at The Art Institute Of Pittsburgh
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